Two ninth-grade girls were asked how they felt about the felony charges Chris Brown faced for allegedly beating his girlfriend, Rihanna. "I thought she was lying, or the tabloids were making it up," one girl said. And after being shown a photo of Rihanna's bloodied and bruised face the other replied in defense of Chris Brown. "She probably made him mad for him to react like that. You know, like, bring it on?"
A recent survey of 200 teens conducted by the Boston Public Health Commission reported that 46 percent felt Rihanna was responsible for what happened to her and 52 percent said that both parties were responsible, despite knowing that her injuries required hospitalization.
Clearly we are failing as a society to instill a strong level of self-esteem, self-worth and self-respect in our youth. I was shocked to hear these statistics. I just can't justify this incident in my head. It is absolutely horrifying that so many young girls are turning to his defense! Horrifying!
I like to think that at one point in my life I served as a strong female role model for young girls and I also like to think that I will continue to do so in the future as a physician and through community work, but am I really above all this?
Twenty-four hours a day, 7 days a week, we are bombarded by superficial media/tabloid exploitations. I'm constantly told that if I turn to a size two, I'm going to be horrendously fat, that I shouldn't put on a bikini (Sorry Jennifer Love) and that no one will love me. Excuse me?! And I can't say that I'm above this. I've grown up with a warped sense of body image, have gone through crash diets and detoxes and toyed with the idea of boob jobs. I love food but am constantly aware of every calorie that goes into my mouth and feel overwhelming guilt at taking a bite of carrot cake with cream cheese frosting 23 days before spring break because I'm having anxiety about getting into a swim suit. Wow. Wow...
We as women, continuously fight for gender equality, socially and occupationally, yet 46 percent of our youth justify dating violence against a woman who they once viewed as a "strong female role model". Where has our level of self-worth and self-respect gone? What are we teaching our girls when women they look up to are running back to their loser, scum-bag, girl-friend-beating boyfriends. He choked, punched and bit you for God's sake! I feel like shaking her.
I don't have children yet, but I hope to one day. And I hope by that time we as a society make a radical change. I hope that we choose to empower them, to place their lives and self-worth in their own hands and not in those of sleezy good-for-nothing magazines. I hope my children don't find themselves victims of dating violence and that if they do they have the strength and self-worth to leave the douche bag and prosecute them to the full extent of the law (excuse my French). I hope that one day we all become comfortable in our own skin, fight for injustices done against us and others, and realize that we ourselves are our own harshest critics. We are what view ourselves to be, so be strong and be proud. If not for ourselves than for our children.
I'm beautiful, inside-and-out, and I don't need some tabloid to tell me so. You don't either. So enjoy that cream-cheese frosting. I know I will.
How Maggie Was Born
11 years ago
